Ruled
by a coalition of the Indian National
Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, Maharashtra continued to record a high incidence of custodial deaths and
extrajudicial executions. The National Human
Rights Commission received complaints of a total of 21 deaths in police custody, and 15 cases of encounter killings in
Maharashtra during 1 April 2006 - 31 March 2007. A total of 130 prisoners died in
judicial custody in Maharashtra during 1 April 2006 – 31 May 2007.

The
Scheduled Tribes (STs) continued to face widespread
violence. There was an increase of 19.20% in crime against tribals during 2006 as compared to 2005. According to “Crime in
Maharasthra-2006” of
the Maharashtra Crime Investigation
Department, one crime was committed against tribals every day in 2006. The National Crimes Records Bureau of
the government of India recorded 267 cases (4.6% of the total crimes against STs in India) of
atrocities committed against Scheduled Tribes in Maharashtra in 2006. These
included 56 rape cases, three abduction cases, eight arson cases and 58 cases
registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, among
others.

Crimes against Scheduled Castes or Dalits increased. In
2006, the NCRB recorded 1,053 cases of violations against Dalits in Maharashtra, compared
to 865 cases during 2005 signifying an increase of 21.73 %.The
1,053 cases included 21 killings, 87 rape cases, five abduction cases, nine
cases of arson, 36 cases registered under Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955
and 350 cases registered under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. According to “Crime in
Maharasthra-2006”, two crimes were committed against Dalits every day in 2006. There was an increase of 21.73% in
crime against dalits during 2006 as
compared to 2005.

The Vidarbha region also recorded a very high incidence of
suicide. According to the Vidarbha Jan AndolanSamiti (VJAS) 1,168 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region in 2007.In 2006, at least 1,060 farmers
committed suicide in Vidarbha region. The Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Agriculture in its 23rd report for 2006-07 presented to the 14thLokSabha on 20 March 2007 termed the Prime Minister’s package for Vidarbha region as “a
glaring example of the inefficiency of the Government in ameliorating the
conditions of the farmers.

According
to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department, two crimes against women
took place in every hour in the state in 2006. It also stated that Maharasthra recorded one case of dowry death a day, one
rape case every six hours, one molestation case every three hours, one case of
cruelty by husband and relatives in every two hours and one sexual harassment case every 10 hours. The NCRB recorded a total of 14,452
cases of crimes committed against women in Maharashtra in 2006, including 1,500
rape cases, 921 kidnapping cases, 387 cases of dowry deaths, 6,738 cases of
cruelty by husband and relatives, 3,479 cases of molestation.

Children
remained extremely vulnerable. According to the Maharashtra
Criminal Investigation Department, a crime was committed against children every
four hours. The report stated that a total of 2,841 crimes were committed
against children in the state during 2006, which is an increase of 23.25%
compared to 2005 (2305 cases). It stated that a total of 207 cases of
murder of children took place in 2006, 192 in 2005, 187 in 2004, 206 in 2003
and 248 in 2002; a total of 655 child rape cases took place in 2006, 634 in
2005, 634 in 2005, 605 in 2003 and 491 in 2002; a total of 552 cases of
kidnapping were registered in 2006, 420 in 2005, 380 in 2004, 337 in 2003 and
275 in 2002; a total of 24 cases of selling and buying of girls for
prostitution were registered in 2006, 7 in 2005, 14 in 2004, 8 in 2003 and 9 in
2002; a total of 15 cases of child marriage were registered under Child
Marriage Restraint Act in 2006, 22 cases in 2005, 14 in 2004, 16 in 2003 and 18
in 2002, among others. There was an increase of 3.31% in
child rape cases during 2006 (655 cases) as compared to 2005 (634 cases) and further that 42.63% of the total rape victims in
the state during 2006 were minors.

Maharashtra
continued to record high rates of custodial deaths and
extrajudicial executions. The NHRC received complaints
of a total of 21 deaths in police custody, and 15 cases of encounter killings in
Maharashtra during 1 April 2006 - 31 March 2007.

During
2006, the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, recorded 18
deaths in police custody in the state. Of them, the state government claimed
that eight committed suicide in police custody, four died during
hospitalization/treatment, one died in accident, two died by mob attack/riot and three died due to illness/natural death. Two custodial rape cases were also registered.

According
to the Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a total of 5,159
complaints were received against the state police personnel and enquiries were
initiated in 1,049 cases including judicial inquiry ordered in 71 cases,
magisterial inquiry in 10 cases and regular departmental inquiry in 968 cases
during 2006. After inquiry, 3805 cases were found to be false. While
departmental inquiry was initiated in 332 cases and accused were charge sheeted
or sent for trial in 233 cases.

On
16 January 2007, RamdasGaekwad was allegedly tortured to death in the lock-up in Andheri police station in Mumbai. He was arrested after a case of theft was filed
against him and another person by his employer, Mukesh Sharma on 9 January 2007. The accused were remanded to police custody till 17 January 2007. According to BipinBihari, Additional Commissioner of Police, West Zone, RamdasGaekwad had a “chest
pain” in the night after which he was taken to Cooper Hospital at 1.15 pm but
died on the way to hospital. The deceased’s relatives blamed the police for his
death. The case has been handed over to the Crime Branch for
investigation.

On
18 February 2007, VinodChandorkar was picked up by the police of Wadala police station
in Mumbai on the basis of a complaint filed by his
wife alleging domestic violence. By 7.35 pm of the same day, he had died. The police said he committed
suicide in the toilet room but the relatives of the deceased claimed that he
was tortured to death. After the opposition parties raised the issue of VinodChandorkar’s custodial
death in the State Assembly, the Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minster of
Maharashtra, Mr R RPatil ordered an investigation by the Criminal
Investigation Department.

On
16 May 2007,Suman Kale, a woman
belonging to a denotified tribe, died in police custody at Ahmednagar,
120 km from Pune. According to the Superintendent of Police of Ahmednagar, Sunil Ramanand, Kale
was summoned on 12 May 2007 on suspicion of being in possession of stolen jewellery and harbouring dacoits. She was kept at the local crime branch,
where her health deteriorated suddenly. The Superintendent of
Police claimed that she had consumed poison but failed to explain how she could have access
to poison in custody. She died at a private hospital on Savedi road in Ahmednagar where she was admitted on 14 May
2007. Maharashtra BhatkyaVimuktaJamati president KisanChavan alleged that the deceased was tortured by the police
which resulted in her death. Kale’s son Saheba also
alleged torture. He stated that he was not allowed to meet his mother (the
victim) when
she was held in custody.

There were frequent reports of alleged encounter
killings. According to the NHRC, as many as 15 encounter deaths were reported from Maharashta during the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007.

On
18 December 2007, Mr. SubhashShivappaBhosle, a member of Scheduled Tribe/Denotified Tribe of Mangalvedha Town under Solapur district was allegedly killed by
the police at Arvali village under Moholtaluka in Solapur district. According to Akhabai,
the wife of the deceased, over 200 people gathered to perform a pooja (worship) to GodessKalobai at Arvali village
on 18 December 2007 evening by sacrificing four goats. A group of nearly 100
policemen raided the village and began beating them. Mr. SubhashShivappaBhosle was beaten to death during the
events.
When women from
the village tried
to stop the beating, the police began to beat the women.

Arbitrary arrests were also
reported. The Anti Terror Squad of the Maharashtra police arrested ShridharSrinivasan alias Vishnu,
Vernon Gonsalves alias Vikram and K D Rao, an advocate from Mumbai, on the
suspicion that they were Maoists on 19 and 20 August 2007. They were allegedly tortured in the custody.

The courts intervened in a number
of cases of gross human rights violations.

On 22 March 2007, Mumbai High Court sentenced three police
officials identified as SubhashPanhale, AnandaBhosale and Sunil Jadhav to life imprisonment for killing one ArunPandav of Shahupuri in the
custody of Kolhapur police station in December 1985.

In
December 2007, after
the Bombay High Court’s 15-day ultimatum to the Maharashtra Government on 21 November2007, the state government provided the permission or the prosecution of police
officers allegedly involved in the custodial death KhwajaYunus in January 2003. Yunus was arrested as an accused in the powerful blast ripped apart a bus
in Ghatkopar in northern Mumbai on 29 July 2003 in
which four persons were killed and 32 injured. An investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department found 14 police personnel
responsible for the death of Yunus. The CID forwarded the proposal to the Maharashta government to give the sanction
for the prosecution of these 14 police personnel.

In December 2007, the Nagpur Bench of the High Court convicted nine policemen of the custodial death in 1993 of Joinus Adam Elamattiarrested on mistaken identity. The court sentenced them to three years of
rigorous imprisonment (RI) each, while acquitting the tenth accused policemen
for lack of evidence.The nine policemen convicted were identified as police
inspector YashwantKanade,
police sub inspectors ZahiruddinDeshmukh and Ram Kadu, and constables BhaskarNarule, NilkanthChorpagar, NamdeoGaneshkar, RameshBhoyar, Ashok Shukla and SudhakarThakre. The bench,
however, acquitted driver RaghunathBhakte.

The
judiciary was hampered by a significant backlog of cases. There were a
total of 3,67,409 cases pending before the Bombay
High Court and 40,32,194 cases were pending before the
District and Sub-ordinate Courts in Maharashtra as on 30 September 2007.

Yet,
as of 1 January 2008, there were 24 vacancies of judges in the Bombay High
Court, while there were 206 vacancies of judges in the District and Subordinate
Courts in Maharashtra as on 30 September 2007. The lack of adequate judges in
the courts, among others, led to judicial delay in disposing of the cases.

According
to 2001 census of India, the total population of Maharashtra was 96,878,627 out
of which 8,577,276 (8.9 per cent) were Scheduled Tribes (STs). There are 47 tribal groups in the
state of which Katkaria (Kathodi),
Maria Gond and Kolam are
recognized as socalled ‘Primitive Tribal Groups’. Although tribals are scattered through out the state, about 54% of
them are concentrated in six districts, namely Thane, Nashik, Nandurbar, Yavatmal, Nagpur and Dhule.About 87.3 per cent of the ST population of Maharashtra lives in rural areas.

The Scheduled Areas notified by the Government of
India are 5,809 villages and 16 towns in 12
districts namely Thane, Pune, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Nanded, Amravati, Yeotmal, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur.
The Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) covers the Scheduled Area. In addition, the
State Government designated 773 villages in the districts of Raigad, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur, Yeotmal and Pune as Additional Tribal Sub-Plan (ATSP) areas. Other villages having
substantial tribal populations have also been included under Modified Area
Development Approach (MADA) and Mini-MADA.

According to the state government of Maharasthra,
49 % of the tribals live in Scheduled Areas (main TSP
area), 2.6% in ATSP areas, 6.8% in MADA and Mini-MADA
areas. The remaining 41.6% of the tribals live outside all these areas. Effectively, 41.6% of
the tribals have been denied the special benefits meant for the
development of the tribal areas.

Literacy is low among tribals. According to 2001 Census, 55.2 per
cent of tribals are literate against 76.9 per cent state average. The female literacy rate of 43.1
per cent among ST population compares to 67.0 per cent among the average of the state. Of those literate 45 per cent of those not attained primary level education. Only 2.1
per cent of literates are graduate or above.

a. Atrocities

Crime
against tribalsin Maharashtra is the highest in India. According to “Crime in
Maharasthra-2006” report of
the Maharashtra Crime Investigation
Department, one crime was committed against the tribals every day in 2006. There was an increase of 19.20% in
crime against the tribals during 2006 as compared to
2005. The NCRB recorded 267 cases (4.6% of the total crimes against STs in India) of
atrocities committed against the Scheduled Tribes in Maharashtra in 2006. These
included 56 rape cases, three abduction cases, eight arson cases and 58 cases
registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, among
others.

On
11 November 2007, a 17-year-old tribal girl was allegedly gang raped by seven
persons in Warudtehsil in
Amravati district.

b. Land alienation

Maharashtra
has a number of laws, such as the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code,
1966, that prohibitthe transfer of tribal land without
prior permission of the District Collector. As the Maharashtra Land Revenue
Code, 1966 failed, the government of Maharashtra enacted Maharashtra Land
Revenue Code and Tenancy Laws (Amendment) Act, 1974 which provided that no
tribal can transfer his land to a non-tribal, by way of sale (including sales
in execution of a decree of a Civil Court or an award or order of any Tribunal
or authority), gift, exchange, mortgage, lease or otherwise transfer without
the previous sanction (a) of the Collector, in the case of mortgage or lease
for a period not exceeding five years, and (b) of the Collector, with previous
approval of Government, in other cases with effect from 6th July, 1974.

The
government of Maharashtra itself admitted that permissions by the District Collectors “appear to have been given as a
matter of routine. The tribals were also induced to
sell their lands because of indebtedness and poverty.”

In
order to restore the alienated lands of the tribals,
the state government enacted the Maharashtra Restoration of Lands to Scheduled
Tribes Act, 1974. This Act provides for restoration to a tribal his/her land transferred to a non-tribal during the period from
1 April 1957 to 6 July 1974 as a result of validly effected transfers
(including, exchanges).

But
both the land protection law - Maharashtra Land Revenue Code and Tenancy Laws
(Amendment) Act, 1974 and the land restoration law - Maharashtra Restoration of
Lands to Scheduled Tribes Act, 1974 have failed to check further alienation of
the tribal land or restore alienated lands. According
to the Annual Report 2007-08 of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government
of India, a total of 45,634 cases have been filed in
the court in the state. 44,624 cases have been disposed of by the court, of
which 19,943 cases (44.7%) involving 99,486 acres of land have been disposed of
in favor of tribals and 24,681 cases (55.3%) against tribals. 1,010 cases were pending in the court.

Crimes against the Scheduled Castes or Dalits were high in Maharasthra. In
2006, the NCRB recorded 1,053 cases of violations against Dalits in Maharashtra, compared
to 865 cases during 2005 signifying an increase of 21.73 %. Of the 1,053 cases included 21 killings, 87 rape cases, five abduction cases,
nine cases of arson, 36 cases registered under Protection of Civil Rights Act,
1955 and 350 cases registered under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
among others. According
to “Crime in Maharasthra-2006”, two crimes were committed against Dalits on average every day in 2006. There was an increase
of 21.73% in crime against Dalits during 2006 compared
to 2005.

The conviction rate for crimes committed against Dalits has been very low in Maharashtra.
According to information obtained through the Right to Information Act by the
National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, 4,864 cases
were filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act of 1989 between 2000
and 2006 in the State. However, there were less than 200 convictions during the
same period. According to the National Crime
Records Bureau,
the rate of filingcharge-sheet for crimes committed
against Dalits in Maharashtra was 96.3% during
2006 but the conviction rate in court was merely 3.6% during the same year. Out
of total 1208 cases in which trials were completed, only in 44 cases the
accused were convicted. Trial in 6,181 cases of crimes committed against Dalitswas pending in the courts at the
end of 2006.

On 4 April 2007, a school
headmaster identified as SharadKaitade,
a member of Other Backward Classes community, allegedly sprinkled cow urine on
Scheduled Caste students to purify them at Surewadi village in Bhandara district. A teacher of the school MadhaviRaut publicly
stated that the school was rid of a “curse” following the transfer of the Dalitheadmistress TilottamaTembhurkar. MrKaitade, who was appointed headmaster of the school got a
bottle of cow’s urine and asked Ms Raut to sprinkle
it on the Dalit students in the classroom. Following
a complaint from the parents of the students, MrKaitade was arrested on 17 April 2007 under Section 7 (1)
(d) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act. But he was released on bail the same
day.

On 7 April 2007, a Dalit woman identified as IndubhaiTandekar was allegedly set on fire by an upper caste
man identified as BabulalBhagat at Pachgaon village under Mohaditehsil in Bhandara district. The victim died on 8 April 2007 due to burn injuries. The accused had
reportedly demanded a loan from IndubhaiTandekar but when she refused to lend him money, he poured
kerosene on her and set her on fire.

In
the last week of April 2007, a Dalit identified as MadhukarGhatge, a farmer, was
killed with axes and iron rods by upper castes for digging a well on his own
land at Kulakjai village under Man taluka in Satara district. The
upper caste villagers did not want him to dig a well which would have been the
first well in Kulakjai village on land owned by a Dalit. Ghatge had prior
permission from the District
Council and Village Council to dig a well. Ten people were arrested under the SC/ST
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act in connection with the murder.

The
media houses and journalists and religious minorities in Maharashtra came under
attacks from Hindu fundamentalists.

On
16 April 2007, the office of Star TV located near Mahalaxmi station in south central Mumbai was attacked by a mob of about 50 persons
allegedly associated with Hindu RashtraSena who were protesting a news story about inter-caste
marriage. News Editor ChandramohanPuppalawas injured in the attack.

On 14 August 2007, members of the ShivSena, a Hindu nationalist political party, ransacked the
office of Outlook magazine at Nariman Point in Mumbai after the magazine included ShivSena chief Bal Thackeray in the list of “villains” in a special issue to mark India's
60th independence anniversary. A cartoon showing him dressed like Adolf Hitler
accompanied the article. About a dozen ShivSena activists entered the office smashing windows and
damaging computers.

On 7 May 2007, two Christian
priests identified as AjitBillawi and RameshKagargole from Ichlakaranji in Kolapur district
were severely beaten up and paraded through the streets allegedly by BajrangDal and VHP activists for
allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity.

On 13 May 2007, a group of Hindu extremists allegedly beat up a Christian missionary
identified as ShrikantChandekar of the Maharashtra Village Ministries at Joadmoha in Yavatmal district. The incident reportedly happened when a
group of villagers numbering around 30 came to stop a prayer meeting of
Christians held at ShrikantChandekar's residence and beat up Shrikant when he refused to
stop the prayer meeting.

The Naxaliteswho are active in Gadchiroli district were responsible for serious violations of international
humanitarian law including the killing of alleged police informers.

On the night of 28 February 2007, PataliPanduZore was killed by
the Naxalites at Tamba village under Etapallitaluka in Gadchiroli.

On
the night of 16 May 2007, a tribal woman identified as SamsubaiMurajiUike was shot dead
by Naxalites at Dabri under Bedgaon police station in Gadchiroli district on the suspicion of being police informer.

On
the night of 11 June 2007, a tribal identified as Doge Mura Naroti (30) was killed by slitting his throat with a sharp weapon on the charge of
being police informer at Hedri village under Etapallitehsil in Gadchiroli district.

On 14 October 2007, two
tribal youths identified as SantoshNavdi (19) and RanjitHoli (18) were killed in a forest at Jambia-Gatta under Etapallitehsil in Gadchiroli district on the charge of being police
informers.

On
6 November 2007, a tribal youth identified as FagusomaTofa (25) was shot dead by Naxalites at Tavegaon village in Gadchiroli district on the charge of being police informer.

The Naxaliteswere also responsible for kidnapping and destruction of public property.

On 19 July 2007, the Naxalites kidnapped two engineers of Lloyds Metals from Surjagarh hills area in Etapallitehsil in Gadchiroli district.

On
the night of 18 January 2007, the Naxalites set
ablaze a tower of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) at Yelchil village under Aheritehsil in Gadchiroli district.

On
8 April 2007, Naxalites belonging to DippagarhDalamburnt down the Dhanoratehsil office in Gadchiroli district.

On 10 April 2007, the Naxalitesburnt down the panchayat office of Chokhewada village at Etapallitehsil in Gadchiroli district.

On 2 December 2007, Naxalitesblew up a telephone tower of Vodafone at Virola under Dhanoratehsil in Gadchiroli district.

29,000
farmers have committed suicide in the state
between 1997 and 2005, according to a study of data issued by the Ministry of Home
Affairs and the National Crime Records Bureau. Maharashtra saw an increase of 105
per cent in farm suicides during 1997 – 2005 andmore than 19,000 of those farmer
suicides occurred from 2001 onwards. Out ofthe 1,50,000 farmer suicides in India between 1997 and
2005, over 89,000 occurred in just four States: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh).

Maharashtra
accounts for a third of all farm suicides within these States. The six
districts - Akola, Arnravati, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal and Wardha – of the impoverished Vidarbha region were the worst affected.

According
to the Vidarbha Jan AndolanSamiti (VJAS), 1,168 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region in 2007 as on December 14th. Of them, 99 died in January, 107
in February, 113 in March, 97 in April, 102 in May, 82 in June, 75 in July, 95
in August, 113 in September, 109 in October, 106 in November and 68 as on 14th December 2007. In 2006, at least 1,060 farmers
committed suicide in Vidarbha region.

In
order to address the farmers’ problems, on 29 September 2006, the government of India approved a Rs.1,69,78.69crore (1 crore = 10 million) rehabilitation package for farmers
in 31 districts of Andhra Pradesh (16 districts), Karnataka (6 districts),
Kerala (3 districts) and Maharashtra (6 districts of Vidarbha region). The package comprised loan rescheduling and interest waiver, and
specific schemes for watershed development, seed replacement, horticulture and
extension services, and for subsidiary income through livestock, dairying and fisheries. Under the package which would be
implemented in a period of three years, Andhra Pradesh got Rs. 9,650.55 crore (including a waiver of interest on loans to the tune
of Rs. 1,436.44 crore), Karnataka got Rs. 2,689.64 crore, including an interest waiver of Rs. 209.81 crore, Kerala’s package was Rs.765.24 crore,
including interest waiver of Rs. 360 crore, and Vidharbha region of Maharashtra was alloted Rs. 3,873.26 crore, including an interest waiver of
Rs.712 crore.

In March 2007, Union Agriculture Minister SharadPawar in his reply to the RajyaSabha stated that the
Centre had released Rs 1,530 crore or 39.5% of the Rs
3,873 crore package announced by the Prime Minister
for relief to farmers in six districts of the Vidarbha region. The amount released included Rs 784 crore for
waiver of interest on loans taken by farmers and about Rs 700 crore for irrigation projects.

However,
the Prime Minister’s relief package failed to reach the farmers. The state government undermined the scheme. The farmers were given very small sums as compensation. It has been reported
that farmers in Vidarbhawere given compensation money ranging from Rs
13 to Rs 20 for crop losses. What is more grotesque is that
the cheques often have often bounced. In November 2007, the Nagpur bench
of Bombay High Court took note of the situation with regard to a chequefor Rs 10,000 forVandanaShende whose husband had committed suicide. The cheque was issued by Yavatmal district administration but the district central cooperative bank dishonoured the cheque because of
lack of funds in the district
administration account. KishoreTiwari of Vidarbha Jana AndolanSamiti filed a Public Interest Litigation. Widespread reports in the media
prompted the Prime Minister’s Office to issue a clarification on 7 July 2007
stating that Rs 3 crores was dispersed to six
districts of Vidarbha in July 2006 itself, and there
was no delay in releasing the funds. In addition to Rs 3 crores for Vidarbha, funds to the remaining 25 districts of
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala were released without delay, amounting
to Rs 12.5 crores from Prime Minister’s National
Relief Fund.

The
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in its 23rd report for 2006-07
presented to the 14thLokSabha on 20 March 2007 termed the Prime Minister’s package for Vidarbha region as“a
glaring example of the inefficiency of the Government in ameliorating the
conditions of the farmers.”

The
government also tried to mislead the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Agriculture by providing lower figures of suicides by farmers. The Committee
stated, “The Committee further note that as
per the information provided by the Department (Department
of Agriculture and Cooperation),
number of suicide cases in the country during last 5 years (2000 onwards)
is 11782 but the figure does not seem to be correct for example in Maharashtra
the number of cases projected by Department are 142 in 2005 whereas the
Committee are aware that only in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra 435 farmers have committed suicide since
June 2005”. The Committee recommended the Government to straighten their records and asked the State Governments to project the factual position so that the Government
and the people of the country are aware of the actual position and act
accordingly.”